Rancho Gordo, Napa -- Heirloom Beans Deluxe Gift Box, including The Bean Book!
Item Number: 150
Time Left: 1d 10h
Leading Bidder: ja7c5b258
Leading Bid: $55
Next Minimum Bid: $60
Description
Rancho Gordo -- Heirloom Beans Deluxe Gift Box
Interested in good food and an excellent introduction to Heirlook Beans?
Box includes:
- The Bean Book by Steve Sando
- 1lb of each of four pounds of heirloom beans
- A tote bag.
Beans varieties include:
- Cranberry beans
- Royal Corona beans
- Dominica Rojo beans
- Garbanzo beans
"These beans are loved by chefs and home cooks alike because they're thoughtfully sourced, easy to cook, and taste delicious. Rancho Gordo's legumes are extremely giftable because they're shelf-stable, so even if your giftee doesn't get around to whipping up a batch of garlicky chickpeas until next year, they'll still taste just as good."
--USA Today
The Bean Book From the founder of the acclaimed Rancho Gordo bean company, an authoritative guide to 50 bean varieties and how to cook with them, featuring 100 classic and modern recipes.
Founder and owner Steve Sando, with twenty-five years experience in growing, sourcing, and cooking with beans, is the perfect home cook to present classic recipes and new combinations for all kinds of eaters. There are vegan and vegetarian dishes like Fennel, Potato, and White Bean Soup with Saffron and Pizza Beans, as well as full-on meat-lovers meals like Napa Valley Cassoulet, Southwestern Chile con Carne, and Clay-Baked Pacific Cod Gratin with Onions and White Beans.
The Bean Book includes instructions for cooking beans using multiple methods and transforming them into satisfying dips, soups, salads, mains, sides, and desserts. Nobody better than the man behind Rancho Gordo to share recipes, tips, and historical background in a beautifully photographed, comprehensive collection that is sure to be a classic.
Of the 100 recipes, 86 are vegetarian, and 57 are vegan. Most can be easily adapted to your preferences.
Hardcover, 278 pages
Steve Sando, Founder and CEO, Rancho Gordo
I was shopping one August for tomatoes and, despite Napa being one of the world's most magnificent agricultural regions, all the tomatoes were from a hothouse in Holland! Worse, they were hard and pale pink instead of the ripe tomatoes I was craving. I started to grow my own tomatoes and this eventually led to beans.
My first harvested heirloom bean was Rio Zape. They were pretty and easy to grow but I had no idea what to expect when I cooked them. They were similar to the pintos I liked but there was so much more going on. Hints of chocolate and coffee mixed with an earthy texture made my head spin. I was blown away by Rio Zape and the other heirloom beans I was growing, but also really confused why they were such a big secret. I took the beans to the farmers market, organizing things on my kitchen table. Soon there was a warehouse, followed by more markets and mail order. It seems we had struck a nerve. People agreed that heirloom beans were worth saving, growing and cooking. Currently our warehouse, a retail shop, and offices are in Napa, California, and a stop here is part of many tours of the wine country.
All of my agricultural pursuits have been based on being someone who likes to cook but gets frustrated by the lack of ingredients, especially those that are native to the Americas. One of the things that originally drew me to beans was the fact that they are indigenous to the Americas. It seems to me these indigenous ingredients should be familiar, if not common. American cuisine is re-inventing itself and I'd love to include ingredients, traditions and recipes from north and south of the border as part of the equation. I love the concept of The Americas. I feel as if it's just as important as the European heritage many of us share.
Please indulge me one last thought. As you cook these heirloom beans and other grains and ingredients, keep in mind that we have a common culture with Mexico and the rest of the Americas. What you are doing isn’t exotic and esoteric. It’s continuing traditions that are well-established for a reason. I think most of us who are immigrants to the Americas are staying, so rather than constantly trying to reproduce English gardens or European wine, it’s nice to know what’s from here and discover ways of incorporating these ingredients into your kitchen. New World food is exciting, tasty, healthy, romantic, and possibly, easier on the earth.
I hope you enjoy cooking with these Rancho Gordo products as much as I enjoy growing and presenting them.
—Steve Sando, Founder and CEO
Special Instructions
Winning bidders located in Northern California may pick up their items in Napa at a location and date to be arranged -- details will be emailed to winning bidders. Items not picked up by March 7, 2025, will be mailed to the winning bidder, and the purchaser is responsible for shipping and insurance costs. (Note that we will automatically mail gift cards and gift certificates for free -- no need to pick those up.)
Items purchased by bidders residing outside of Northern California will be shipped on or around Tuesday, February 11, 2025, unless you tell us that you wish to pick up your item. The purchaser is responsible for shipping and insurance costs. (Gift cards and gift certificates ship for free.) Please contact us at sbspcauction@gmail.com by February 10 if you plan to pick up your auction winnings.
Stone Bridge School and SBS Parent Council are not responsible for items lost or damaged during shipping.
No shipping outside the United States.